What if
by Tinkswings
Summary: What if ... A story about an upside down world where Luke & Lorelai haven't met. Yet.
1. Feeling Lost

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the characters that previously appeared on the Gilmore Girls.

**Feeling lost**

Luke Danes shut his eyes and tried to block out the sound. Didn't he read somewhere that if you concentrated on your center – wherever that may be – you could shut out any sound? Then he remembered the article had also said that you needed practice, a lot. And that you needed to begin with a soft sound and then move on to the louder ones. Taylor was definitely one of the louder sounds and therefore unblockable to the ears of a beginner.

"What is it that you want this time?" Luke felt anger rising up from his stomach to his vocal cords. "I'm not reconsidering the whole window between our shops-thing! You agreed that that would be gone by the end of the week and if you don't, I have dozens of witnesses right here." He gestured at the customers and gave Taylor another fierce look. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have customers." Taylore stomped out of the diner and headed back to his shop. Surely he'd come back in an hour or two. Luke sighed, tired of fighting with the man, something he normally took great pleasure from.

After his father died, years ago, Luke had turned the hardwarestore into a diner. It had been a successful choice, the diner was packed at breakfast and lunch, and the evenings were getting busier too. But lately, Luke felt like something was missing. A few months ago, Rachel had stopped by on one of her reconnect-missions. He had given up on her a long time ago, but this time he had actually said the words. "We're not getting back together, Rachel. The feelings are gone. Don't pull this trick on me again, I'm done." She had accepted it all gracefully, choking back her tears and hiding her trembling hands. He hadn't heard from her since.

Rory had been quite devastated, hoping her parents would finally reunite, but she felt relieved at the same time, that they had finally ended this for good. Luke noticed that she was really processing it now, and gave herself some time mourn. Which was probably good. Just before Rachel had left, they had both sat down with their daughter and explained what they – or actually Luke – had decided and that they loved her very much and that she could live with both of them. To his huge relief, Rory had chosen to stay in Stars Hollow with her dad and spending the summer with her mom.

That summer had come pretty quick, and Luke had spent the last two months counting the days til Rory's return. He went in the back to make some burgers where he found Lane, looking frustrated at a bowl of lettuce and some tomatoes. "What's up?" Luke asked, smiling at the expression of his daughter's best friend. Lane looked up, disturbed. "Caesar won't say where he hid the sharp tomato-knifes. What am I supposed to do with these now?" she asked, grumbling. Luke laughed, understanding Caesar completely after the fiasco last week. "Let him cut up those tomatoes, if you like you can serve the customers today." The look on Lane's face was one of pure relief and she hurried into the diner. She looked back over her shoulder, remembering her question. "Isn't Rory supposed to come back today?" He nodded, glancing at the calendar on the fridge. "She is. I'm picking her up with Sookie this afternoon."

The date was circled with a red marker twice and Sookie had already been on the phone five times that day, making sure that everything was ready for her return. Sookie had always been a surrogate-mom for Rory, since Rachel was never home longer than a couple of months. The longest she'd ever been in Stars Hollow was the nine months of her pregnancy and a couple after that. Sookie had missed Rory probably just as much as he had done and was extra-anxious to see her now that she had just discovered that she and Jackson were going to be parents.

The phone rang and Luke took it in the back. "Luke's Diner," he said, feeling like being official that day. "Dad! It's me!" said an enthusiastic voice on the other side. "Rory! Aren't you supposed to be on a plane right now?" He heard her laugh and at the same time the little bell at the door tingled, signalling that a customer just entered. Rory hung up and just when he was punching in the numbers to call her back – he figured that they must have been disconnected – he heard Lane shriek. Not again! Luke ran into the diner and stood face to face with his daughter. "Surprise!" Rory shouted and enveloped him in a bearhug. "You're back! How did you get here?" he asked, not understanding a single part. Then he saw Sookie satnding next to Lane, with a guilty face. "She made me promise not to tell you!" she defended herself, looking at Rory affectionately.

Luke closed the diner early that day, to the customers that was. He made a welcome-back dinner for Rory, Lane, Sookie, Jackson and himself. They ate all night, listening intently to all Rory's stories. It was almost midnight when they said goodbye to everyone. Climbing the stairs, they yawned in unison and then laughed. "I missed you, sweetie," Luke said, when they got upstairs. He gave her a hug and stroked a few loose strands of hair out of her face. They talked some more and then both went to bed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Lorelai Gilmore gritted her teeth. "No, mom, it wasn't his fault. What do you mean that it can't be mine? Ofcourse it can. I'm the one that ended it, I'm the one who fell out of love with him. For all I know, he still loves me." She hammered her fists on the steering wheel, longing to pretend that she was driving in a tunnel, the connection failing. "It's really sweet of you to be on my side, but there's not a side to pick. It really wasn't anyone's fault ( ... ) Thanks mom. I'll see you tomorrow, okay? 'Bye."

She hung up and took of her headset. She was stuck in traffic again, she'd be late for work. Staring at her fingers, she realized she still had her weddingring on and took the thin gold band off. The small inscription caught her eye. _Lorelai & Christopher forever, 5-22-1990._ A tear ran down her cheek, leaving a salty trail behind. She never expected it to end like this.


	2. Summer's Over

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the characters that previously appeared on the Gilmore Girls.

**Summer's over**

Rory Danes woke up, feeling refreshed. Finally, an actual bed again. Spending the summer with her mom had been great, but the last couple of weeks she'd longed for Stars Hollow and especially her dad. Tiptoeing out of her room, she peered inside Luke's bedroom and saw that he was still asleep. He wouldn't open the diner until late in the morning, to be able to spend some time with her. Pulling on her robe, Rory went to the kitchen in the back of the diner and started to make breakfast. Rachel had been an awful cook and so Rory ended up doing all the cooking. She didn't mind, really, Luke and Sookie had given her lessons since kindergarten. The eggs were boiling and the coffee was already done. She quickly poored herself a cup, before Luke would see it. He didn't like her drinking coffee. "Caffeine is for old people, you don't need it," he always said, shaking his head. Luckily Chilton had provided her with a daily dose and now that she was going to Yale in a couple of weeks, she'd be fine in that area as well.

Rory took the tray with coffee, eggs and some muffins upstairs, putting it on the bedstand. "Dad! Wake up ..." She started to tickle him but didn't realize he was awake already. A few seconds later she was in headlock and couldn't do anything but laugh. "Hey! Don't finish off the breakfastmaker, will you?" she sniggered and wiggled out of his grip.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Lorelai parked at her parents' house, where her mother was already waiting for her. She had been dreading this, finally making a decision that felt right but had these enormous consequences. Emily Gilmore had loved her son-in-law terribly, and she had known him since he was seven. Their phonecall yesterday had made clear that she was on Lorelai's side, but Lorelai herself wasn't quite sure on whose side she was. She was throwing away their lives, giving up more than 14 years of marriage and almost 30 years of friendship. Christopher hadn't said a word when she told him that their marriage was over. He probably knew something like this had been coming, and that there wasn't anyway they could fix it anymore. They had been through so much.

The first years of their marriage had been amazing. They both went to college and graduated with honours, Chris in commercial economics and Lorelai in hotel management. They dreamed of opening their own hotel with an exclusive restaurant, travelled the world and dreamed some more. When Chris started working for his father and Lorelai wasn't able to find a job, the first cracks started to show in their future. After more than a year of doing charity-work and spending too much time with her mom, Lorelai managed to find a job as a hostess in nearby hotel. The years after that she went from hotel to hotel and was now a manager for one of the biggest hotel-corporations of the country. She should've been happy. But something had always been missing. Something that she couldn't work for, that she couldn't earn or buy.

For the past ten years she and Chris had been trying to have children, but nothing worked. Last spring they had tried IVF for the last time. The only option left was adoption, but when Lorelai had taken a week of to think about what she wanted, she realized that all their marriage was based on now, was the hope for a child. The passion was gone, they never laughed anymore and all that seemed to be left of their enormous love for one another was friendship. And a fragile friendship at that. Ever since she came to that conclusion, she had walked around with a rock in her stomach, the size of a football. But the more she put it of, the harder it got and finally, two days ago, she had told Chris that they needed to talk.

Emily kissed her daughter and gave her a firm hug. The maid brought some herbal tea but Lorelai shook her head. "Coffee, please." Emily raised her eyebrows. "You haven't had that in years, why ..." "Because what's the point anymore, mom? I only started to drink tea when I was trying for a baby. And that's not going to happen."

Tears welled up in the corner of her eyes and before she knew it, she was sobbing in her mother's arms.

The afternoon passed and after eating mountains of chocolate and watching old ballroomdancing-tapes for comfort, Lorelai said goodbye. She got in her car and decided to pay a visit to the site for a new hotel that her company was planning closeby, in a small town named Stars Hollow. She hadn't taken a look herself and was curious about it, since her boss had been completely in love with it. The community didn't have a hotel yet, just a diner and a couple of small restaurants, but attracted a lot of tourists every year and so it would be perfect to start something new. She turned the volume of the radio up and drove to the town while singing along to an old Bangles-song. The first sight she got of the town was idyllic, with nicely painted houses, porches filled with flowers and a gazebo on the townsquare. Lorelai parked the car and rummaged in her suitcase, swearing when she realized she forgot the exact address of the place they were going to use. She did remember the name though and when a diner on the other side of the square caught her eye, she decided to ask inside.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luke shooshed Rory from the kitchen. "Your mom has made you do more than enough cooking, and I'm the one who's getting paid to do this. Go and talk to Lane, she could use the company." Rory rolled her eyes, gave her dad a kiss and walked over to Lane, who was staring out of the window wearing a darkblue apron."Thanks."

The diner was almost empty, only one table was occupied and Kirk, who was occupying it, hadn't ordered a single thing in the last two hours. Something was probably wrong, but Luke had no intention of asking. Instead he made him some lunch. Customers would start to come back in a couple of days. This summer, almost everyone had taken an actual holiday. Babette and Morey were doing some workshop on making gardengnomes – he didn't get the fun in that, but hey, he didn't have to – somwhere in Alabama, Miss Patty was touring with her ballet-group and even Gypsy closed up the shop for three weeks to visit her family somewhere in the South.

Luke brought over Kirk's lunch, who thanked him in a sad voice. He was lost without his new girlfriend Lulu, who was spending the week at her grandparents' house in New Jersey. Luke shook his head and went back to the kitchen, meanwhile kicking out Rory and Lane. "Take the afternoon off, Lane, and go have fun with my daughter. There's nothing to do around here anyway. Now go." Laughing and talking they went outside, almost bumping into a woman in her thirties that was just about to enter the diner.


	3. New Acquaintances

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the characters that previously appeared on the Gilmore Girls.

**New Acquaintances**

Luke looked up at the customer Rory had almost knocked over and smiled politely. The woman had something familiar, but he couldn't place her. She looked like she was sad, but the smile she wore also seemed real. "Can I get you something?" he asked her, getting up on his feet. Now that he looked closer, he saw that she had a map in her hand and also a little bit of confusion in her eyes.

Lorelai felt relieved. For a second there, she thought that the rough-looking man in the diner would be rude to her, but when he opened his mouth, she relaxed. His voice was nice and the look in his eyes was warm. She thought she'd seen him before, but couldn't place him. Maybe he had visited Hartford someday, a lot of people from here seemed to do that. "A cup of coffee, please. Can you make it a strong one?" The man nodded and made her the coffee. She wondered if he was the owner of the place. She glanced at the window that read the name of the diner. He looked like a Luke. It suited him. He handed her the cup and she gave him a handful of coins. "Sorry, my wallet was getting too heavy," she excused herself. "Can I ask you something else? I'm kind of looking for a place that's supposed to be in this town, but I've misplaced the directions my boss gave me. Do you happen to know a place called the Dragonfly?" She took a sip of her coffee and shuddered with delight. One guilty pleasure she really deserved after all this time.

"Sure," Luke replied. The door opened and Sookie came in. "In fact, I think you came to the right place at the right time." He smiled at Sookie. "Sookie, I've got someone here that needs directions to the Dragonfly. Can you point her there?" He turned to Lorelai and said, in a softer tone, "Sookie is absolutely in love with the place, she can give you a detailed background even." Lorelai smiled. She gulped down her coffee and thanked Luke. "You're Luke, right? The owner? Thanks for your help," she said. "That's right. Any time." He turned around and went back into the kitchen. The woman seemed nice, he thought to himself. He wondered what she was planning with the Dragonfly. He had a feeling he was going to see a lot more of her.

Sookie quietly took in the woman walking next to her. She seemed okay, although there was a little sadness to her face and in the way she walked. Restraining herself from asking questions about a complete strangers' personal life, she bit her lip and walked on. She already blurted out all she knew about the building and was afraid she was too overwhelming again, Jackson accused her of being that way with strangers. It wasn't a long walk and within minutes they reached the place. "Here it is," Sookie said, waiting expectantly for a little bit of information on what was going on exactly. Lorelai sighed, relieved that she didn't have to go back to get the directions. "Thank you so much. I would've been driving around all afternoon if it hadn't been for you and Luke. By the way, I'm Lorelai. Lorelai Gilmore," she said, shaking hands. "Sookie St. James, nice to meet you. Aw, you would've found it eventually, the people here are pretty helpful," she said, laughing. "I'm sorry if I sound nosy, but well, I am ... nosy, I mean. I just wanted to know what you're planning on doing with this place."

Lorelai explained the plans her company had with the place – renovation and modernization and then making it a family-inn, because they had noticed that there was a need for a more personal branch in the hotel-business. They were also planning on adding a restaurant and were thinking about hiring local people. Sookie was nice to talk to and Lorelai gave her her business-card to keep in touch. They walked back to the townsquare and said goodbye. Lorelai drove off, feeling refreshed thanks to Luke and Sookie's enthusiasm.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Emily Gilmore woke up with a clenched stomach. This was the day she dreaded most each year. Painful memories came back all at once and there was no escape. She shut her eyes and tried to block them out, tried to think only of the good ones. She felt tears well up but she swallowed them down and took a deep breath. She would be fine, she had managed to survive the last ten years and this one she should be able to handle as well. Shouldn't she be over it by now? If you'd believe all the articles in women's magazines, it was easy to get over it all. It took some time, ofcourse, but after a year, maybe a year and a half, everything was fine again. But Emily didn't feel fine. Almost every night she dreamed that it hadn't happened and then when she woke up, it hit her all over again. She was alone, the warm body next to her wasn't there anymore and would never be.

She dressed in black, mostly, pinning a fresh daisy to her jacket and went downstairs. Her stomach was still tight and restless and when the maid asked her what she would like for breakfast, all she asked for was a cup of coffee and maybe some crackers. The phone rang and Emily picked up, trying to sound calm. It was Christopher, asking how she was and telling her that his thoughts were with her and Lorelai that day. She cut the phonecall short, not able to speak to Chris in a normal way yet, but she was touched by his gesture. She figured Lorelai had been right about their break-up. It wasn't anybody's fault really, they had just been through too much and they had drifted apart.

Emily quietly ate her crackers and gulped down her coffee when she heard Lorelai's car pull up on the driveway. She grabbed her coat and purse and went outside, waiting for her daughter to park.

Lorelai got out of her car and opened up the passenger's side for her mother. "Hey mom. You okay?" Gently she hugged Emily, carefully studying her expression. The grief never went away, no matter what the specialists all said. Lorelai felt tears coming herself and rubbed her hands together. She felt chilly, even though the sun shone brightly and the sky was cloudless. They both got in her car and didn't speak during the drive.

As they entered the graveyard, Emily took Lorelai's hand, giving it a quick squeeze. Feeling more and more unstable, they walked towards the grave that they had visited so often, but this day was extra hard. It was exactly ten years ago that Richard Gilmore had passed away, when the plane that he took home from one of his businesstrips, crashed.


	4. Samples and Such

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the characters that previously appeared on the Gilmore Girls.

**Samples and Such**

Rory closed her eyes. She felt bloated, able to go without food for at least a week. "Come on, Sookie. It's going to be great. They'll hire you on the spot, just bring some of those." She pointed at the mini-quiches and the heaps of cookies. "Besides, you met the woman that'll be the manager already, right? And even dad told me she seemed nice." Sookie looked beat, and her morning sickness wasn't helping. "Do you want me to come with you?" Rory asked. Sookie shook her head. "No. I'll just have to get out there. Like you said, it'll be fine. And when they don't hire me, just as good. I'm managing perfectly well, right now, so ..." Rory nodded and quietly sneaked out. Jackson just walked in and took her place. He gave her a wink and waved her out.

Rory rushed out and headed for her car. She'd just finished her first week at Yale and was dying to get home, but Sookie had stopped her in the middle of the road, pushing her inside to taste all the samples she'd made for her job-application. She walked back to her car, deserted haphazardly at the side of the road and got in again. She drove over to the diner, parking quickly and slamming the door behind her. The door could take it, it had been through many of Rory's angry periods and stressful ones as well. The car looked battered, Luke had bought it from Gypsy – it was an oldie, but she loved it. Pulling her bags from the trunk, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up with a smile but then it faded. She hated running into exes, especially like this.

"Hi, Dean," she said, reluctantly. She gave him a weak smile, hoping he'd just smile back and then move on to whatever it was that he did these days. He didn't, however. He just stood there and stared. She felt irritation bubbling up inside her and wanted to kick him. This was exactly why she broke up with him in the first place. After about a month or two since they first started dating, when she was 16, she realized that all he could do was sit and smile and nod. And since Luke had instantly disliked him, she broke up with him. Since Dean, she had had lots of other boyfriends, but in all those three years, he had been single. Okay, Rory, put an end to this misery. "Is there something that you need?" she asked, giving him a questioning look. Dean shook his head. "No, not really. I just ... wanted to tell you that I've found a new job. So I quit at Doose's." Rory felt like screaming. Why did he tell her this? Sure, it was nice that he had finally managed to get away from Taylor, but what did she have to do with it? "That's nice, Dean. Congratulations. I gotta go, okay? Good luck with the new job." She dashed off towards her car again and drove off as quick as she could.

She parked next to the diner and almost threw Luke to the ground when she gave him a hug. Taking a deep breath, she stayed in his arms for a little while. Luke looked down at his daughter and stroked her hair. "Hey, you're here. Are you okay? How did it go?" Rory couldn't help but smirk. "Dad, come on. We spoke on the phone last night. You know how it was. And yes, I'm fine, I just had various obstacles in my way to get here." Luke raised his eyebrows. "First Sookie made me taste everything she had made for this job-interview and then Dean startled me in his usual manner. You know, staring and mumbling and then we he speaks up there's nothing interesting that comes out." Rory sighed. "Come on, it's a good kid. He just hasn't gotten over you." She looked up. What? Luke was defending Dean? This was a first. "After three years? Come on! He has to get a life of his own! I just feel stalked!" Luke rolled his eyes. His daughter really was a dramaqueen. She must have gotten it from her mother. "Well, dramaqueen, what do you think, shall we close up the diner for the day and eat out? To celebrate you surviving your first week at Yale?" Rory smiled. She nodded and threw her bags in the back. She smoothly ushered out the last customers and started to wipe the tables. Just before Luke was able to lock the door, a woman swooped past him and fell down at one of the tables. "Coffee. Strong. Please," she managed to say and then let her head fall on the table.

Rory laughed. She couldn't stop. "You see, dad? That's exactly why I need coffee sometimes. Look at her. It's how I feel most of the time. Coffee does the trick." Luke grumbled a bit and then poored two cups, for the customer and his daughter. He handed the woman a cup. "You're Lorelai, right?" he suddenly said, realizing who she was. "You came in for directions about a week ago." Lorelai nodded and quietly drank her coffee. After she had gulped it down she smiled. "Thanks. You were about to close, weren't you?" Luke shook his head, but Rory, who had taken a chair at the same table and now was happily drinking her coffee, nodded. "But that's okay," she said. "Are you the woman that's opening up the old Dragonfly?" Lorelai nodded again. "And then are you maybe the person Sookie is having her interview with tomorrow?" "That's right. I need a chef for the hotel, and Sookie was the second person I met in this town, so she was the first person that came to mind. I'm Lorelai Gilmore, by the way. You must be Luke's daughter?" She stuck out her hand. Rory took it and shook it. "Yes I am. Rory Danes, nice to meet you."

Lorelai liked the young girl immediately. She looked a lot like her dad, had the same twinkles in her eyes. She paid Luke, and said goodbye. She felt refreshed, not only thanks to the cup of coffee, but thanks to the diner guy and his sweet daughter. Her boss had done a good thing by sending her to this town.

After a short drive, she walked into the lobby of her appartment-building. It didn't feel like home yet, but when she ended her marriage, she couldn't bear to stay in the house that they had shared for such a long time. Every corner was full of memories, and a lot of them were linked to sad feelings. The bathroom was one big feeling of loss, where she had cried so many times when she had gotten her period. The spare room was a room that she had avoided for years, letting Chris do the preparing when someone came to stay for a couple of days. It had once been a baby-room, when they had first started to get pregnant and now it was just one big failure-sign to Lorelai. She felt so bad that a dream could be so devastating, that the wish to be a mother could destroy the wife-part.

The doorman smiled and pushed the button for the elevator for her. She got out at the third floor and unlocked her door. She kicked of her shoes and sat down on the sofa. She looked around and decided that this was temporary, she wasn't going to stay. She was going to find a nice place to live, something cozy, something groundfloor and maybe even something in ... Stars Hollow. Lorelai felt good in the little town, like nothing that she'd been through mattered. She loved the little houses and frontyards filled with flowers and gnomes. A smile spread across her face and closed her eyes. Everything was going to be just fine.

Rory locked up behind Lorelai and then turned around. "I like her! You didn't tell me that you met someone new!" She tried to guess her father's thoughts, but was distracted when the phone rang. "One sec, okay? That'll be Lane." She ran to the phone. Luke was left with his own thoughts. Why didn't he tell Rory that he had met a new person? It wasn't like she was someone he was interested in, someone he should hide. This was a new person in Stars Hollow, someone with a plan that would involve a lot of local people. News like that was something he'd normally tell Rory immediately, knowing her curious nature. He was intrigued by this woman, this Lorelai Gilmore. It felt like he knew her, and had done so for a long time. He snapped out of his trail of thoughts when Rory threw his coat at him. "Come on, dad, I'm hungry. Let's go!" He sighed. "Alright, alright. I'm not the one who was on the phone at the last minute, you know. And remember to call your grandfather when we get back, alright? He's probably longing to hear everything about Yale." Rory agreed and rushed out the door. "I'm driving!" she yelled. Honestly, where the girl got her energy from, was a mystery to Luke. His thoughts turned back to Rory's grandfather, Rachel's father. He had been amazingly helpful, paying for Chilton and now for Yale. He hadn't asked for anything in return, but Luke felt it was his responsibility to make sure Rory called him on a regular basis.


	5. Territorial Grounds

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the characters that previously appeared on the Gilmore Girls.

The rest of them are mine (Terence Russell, Alma Fine), any resemblance to actual people or already existing fictional characters are purely accidental.

**Story: **What if ... A story about an upside down world where Luke and Lorelai haven't met. Yet.

**5. Territorial Grounds**

So. House-hunting. Something that had never been a hobby of Lorelai's. It had taken her months when she and Christopher had first gotten together, and all the other times, she had subtly pushed the task towards her husband. He hadn't minded, she remembered, with a soft pang in her stomach. Lorelai choked back some tears and cleared her throat. No need to get emotional just now, it would only make the process harder.

She had left the constructionworkers for the inn in the chaotic but safe hands of her new chef, Sookie St. James. It looked like the remodeling was going to take forever, but her boss, Terence Russell, had assured her there was no rush.

"You're going through a rough time already, my dear, and I am certain that if you take some more time for this project than we normally do, both the inn and you will benefit," he'd said in a soothing voice.

Lorelai often marveled at the ease with which he had taken over the role of a father in her life. If only she could convince her mother to go out to dinner with him sometime, she thought with a smile. Even Emily would have to agree it was a handsome and impressive man, most ladies were taken with him instantly. A good thing in their business, which depended, next to the usual businessmen, solely on elderly women.

After a deep breath and a quick brush through her hair, Lorelai got out of her car and pushed open the door of Stars Hollow's real estate agent. A fragile looking girl of about 18 years old got up from her seat and smiled in a shy manner.

"Good morning, miss, I'm Alma Fine. Can I help you?"

"Good morning, Alma. I'm Lorelai Hayden ... Gilmore and I would like to know what kind of property you have available in town?" Lorelai flushed when she gave her married name. She wasn't totally used to using her maiden name yet, but she was determined to do so soon.

A door was thrown open in the back of the room and a large man burst through it. A furious look upon his face, he roughly pushed Alma aside.

"What do you think you're doing, missy?" he snarled and ushered her out. Alma's eyes fluttered nervously to Lorelai and then back to the man, before - what seemed to be - running for dear life. Lorelai was baffled and stared at the man, open mouthed.

"Please except my apologies, ma'am, for this little scene."

Lorelai breathed out, relieved he thought it was a scene as well.

"The little brat thinks that she can do everything around here," he said and quickly got on with his story. "Anyway, I haven't even introduced myself! It's a true scandal! My name is Bernard Fine, pleased to meet you. How can I be of service?"

The pompous man shook her hand and Lorelai stared at it with dismay. She'd thought he'd just had some row with his daughter, and had apologized for that to her. But apologizing for a perfectly polite young girl? This wasn't someone she wanted to buy a house from.

"I'm afraid you can't," she said and left him in amazement.

* * *

The little bells of the diner sounded familiar already as Lorelai pushed open the door. She heaved herself on one of the barstools and let her head rest on her folded arms on the counter.

"Bad day?" Luke's voice woke her out of her thoughts.

"Kind of. Not for me though," she said. "I went over to Fine's real estate just now and I'm ... well ... appalled. Truly. Do you know the owner?"

Luke nodded and his eyes turned cold. "Did you happen to see where Alma ran to?" he asked, obviously familiar with the 'scenes' at the Fine household.

Lorelai shook her head. She wished she had, though. Luke poured her some coffee and threw in a complimentary donut. He called it a customer-luring thing, but she wasn't fooled. She had become a regular the minute she first walked into the diner.

The little bells rang again and Rory dashed in, her eyes flaming and her hands balled up to fists. Alma quietly followed. Rory ushered the girl to a seat in the corner and walked over to the counter, where she let out a deep sigh of despair.

"Will there ever _be_ someone who will kick the sorry ass of that guy?" she asked, shaking her head.

"Not that I know of yet, but you're doing a pretty good impression of someone who will try." Luke couldn't help but snigger, picturing the tall, but thin girl trying to tackle Bernard Fine.

"Is she your friend?" Lorelai asked Rory, nodding at Alma.

"Yup. Since third grade. If it wasn't for that father of hers, Lane and I would be able to see a lot more of her. She called me on my cell, half an hour ago, and since I was already on my way here, I figured I'd pick her up. Can she stay for dinner, dad?" Rory looked up at look with big, pleading eyes.

"Ofcourse. You know that I've got a weak spot for that girl. And even if I didn't, that big, puppy-dog-eyes act you're pulling would have done the trick," he admitted.

* * *

Lorelai walked to her car, her mind wandering off. What was she supposed to do about a place to live now? There was no way that she was going back to Fine's, not after she'd seen the way he treated Alma. She did feel slightly better, though, when she found out that Alma had Rory for a friend.

She was so deep in thought that she didn't even hear light, running steps behind her. When someone behind her cleared his throat, she spun around.

"Alma! You scared me," Lorelai said, breathing in deeply.

The girl turned bright red and started to stammer an apology. Lorelai smiled at the girl, waving away her apologies.

"It's okay, really, I should pay more attention to my surroundings. When I'm in thought, a car could crash inches from where I stand and I probably wouldn't notice. My parents used to go crazy over it."

"Ehm, I just ... I figured you still needed a place to live? I mean, I know you walked out on my dad. Which is actually kind of sweet, but then again, I already knew that. Rory told me about the inn and that you hired Sookie and that ..." Alma paused abruptly and stocked up on some oxygen again.

"Yes?" Lorelai urged her to talk further.

"You see, I can help you with a place. I talked to mrs. Brown the other day about selling her house and my dad pulled the same trick on her. She left, but still wants the place sold. I can bring you to her place, if you like? You can be honest about the house though, just say no when it's not your kind of place, but ... it's really cute. And she'd had it all done up nicely last year so there's no work needed."

Lorelai stared at the girl with an open mouth. This was perfect. Could it be this perfect?


End file.
